Diversification of a single ancestral gene into a successful toxin superfamily in highly venomous Australian funnel-web spiders.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Spiders have evolved pharmacologically complex venoms that serve to rapidly subdue prey and deter predators. The major toxic factors in most spider venoms are small, disulfide-rich peptides. While there is abundant evidence that snake venoms evolved by recruitment of genes encoding normal body proteins followed by extensive gene duplication accompanied by explosive structural and functional diversification, the evolutionary trajectory of spider-venom peptides is less clear.

Results

Here we present evidence of a spider-toxin superfamily encoding a high degree of sequence and functional diversity that has evolved via accelerated duplication and diversification of a single ancestral gene. The peptides within this toxin superfamily are translated as prepropeptides tha

SUBMITTER: Pineda SS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4029134 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature